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Colo. AG wants to halt clerk's gay marriage licenses

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is asking the state Supreme Court to force the Boulder County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, arguing she's causing Coloradans to lose

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Colo. AG wants to halt clerk's gay marriage licenses

In this June 26, 2014, file photo, Boulder County clerk Hillary Hall congratulates longtime couple Jennifer Knight, left, and Felice Cohen, after Hall granted them a marriage license, inside the offices of the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado state Attorney General John Suthers says the licenses aren't valid, and has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court seeking an order for Hall to stop issuing the licenses.(Photo: Brennan Linsley, AP)

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is asking the state Supreme Court to force the Boulder County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, arguing she's causing Coloradans to lose faith in their government.

In an unusual motion filed late Sunday evening, Suthers acknowledged that a federal judge last week declared unconstitutional the state's ban on same-sex marriage, but said the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately needs to decide. The federal judge who struck down that ban last week also said his order wouldn't go into effect for a month, giving higher courts time to review it.

Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall in June began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after a different federal court ruled Utah's ban unconstitutional. Because Utah's ban is similar to Colorado's, Hall refused to stop despite Suthers' earlier requests.

"Permitting one clerk to ignore some state laws while using the power granted by other state laws causes significant irreparable harm to the state and the public interest," Suthers wrote in Sunday's filing. "Each day that one clerk continues to issue same-sex marriage licenses — and publicly declare those licenses' validity, despite the state marriage laws and the attorney general's statements to the contrary — greater social and legal chaos ensues because the public is left confused and uncertain about the legal validity of such marriages and the role of clerks versus the role of the courts or other government officials in determining whether to enforce state law."

Hall's staff has issued 199 marriage licenses to same-sex couples as of Monday afternoon. In a statement, Hall said federal courts have held that marriage is a fundamental right. She said more harm would come to residents if she stopped issuing them licenses: "I think the least harmful and most sensible solution is to continue to issue marriage licenses in order to avoid more potential civil rights violations."

The Colorado Supreme Court has already ordered the Denver County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but that ruling didn't apply to Boulder. Hall said she would abide by the state supreme court's ruling.

Suthers said the confusion over which licenses are valid needs to be decided conclusively.

"One can understand and sympathize with the desire to shortcut the normal processes and get that (marriage) certificate, even if it comes with the disclaimer or cloud of legal uncertainty. But that is not enough to overcome the reasons that favor the court's temporarily suspending the issuance of licenses while this appeal on the merits plays out," he wrote in his filing. "Indeed, the moving concerns of same-sex couples in Colorado are not unlike the concerns of same-sex couples around the United States, and those couples are, pursuant to the standard legal process, awaiting a final judicial determination before same-sex marriage licenses are issued."